1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally relates to a parking conduct device and method thereof for conducting or guiding a parking of a vehicle, and in particular to a parking conduct device and method of displaying a position of a vehicle on a plan view with calculating an estimate movement locus of a vehicle body when the vehicle is moved at a predetermined steering angle with respect to the vehicle position. Thus, a driver of the vehicle can easily and quickly park the vehicle with accuracy and safety while monitoring the estimate movement locus of the vehicle on a display screen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to facilitate a smooth parking of a vehicle in a parking lot, a conventional parking conduct device of a loaded-on-vehicle type is suggested, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid Open Unexamined Publication 7-114700 (in 1995), a block construction example thereof being shown in FIG. 5.
In FIG. 5, the conventional parking conduct device includes an image input unit 51 for picking up an image of a surrounding sight of the vehicle, an image memory 52 for storing the input image data, an image processor unit 53 for extracting features of the input image data, a driver input unit 54 for the driver to operate such as a starting of a parking, a learning unit 55 for learning the processed image data, a learning data recording memory 57 for recording the learned results, a danger judging unit 56 for judging danger by comparing the input image with the learned data, and an output unit 58 for generating a warning alarm to the driver.
In this conventional construction, the image input unit 51 such as an image pickup camera is attached to a rear part of the vehicle to pick up an image of a backward sight picture outside the vehicle. The input image is stored in the image memory 52. Based on the input image stored in the image memory 52, the image processor unit 53 extracts information of the backsight picture, for example, existence of a wall or a pole standing, or a block placed. Then, the driver executes the starting operation of the parking by means of the driver input unit 54 and the resultant image data processed by the image processor unit 53 is learned by the learning unit 55. The learned resultant data is recorded in the learning data recording memory 57. The learned resultant data stored in the the learning data recording memory 57 and the input image of the backsight picture output of the image processor unit 53 are compared by the danger judging unit 56. Based on the comparison result, when it is judged to be danger to park the vehicle as it is, the output device 58 gives, for example, a warning alarm to the driver.
In this conventional technique, however, since the danger is merely judged based on the comparison between the input image data and the learned resultant data, it was still difficult for a beginner having just taken an auto-driving license to park a vehicle, and also difficult for a driver to park an inexperienced vehicle such as a large-sized vehicle of another person. This is because the size of the vehicle body and the actual rotating angle of the wheel with respect to a handle steering angle are both varied according to various different types of vehicles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved parking conduct device and method thereof for conducting a parking of a vehicle, depicting a position of the vehicle on a plan view with calculating an estimate movement locus of a vehicle body when the vehicle is moved at a predetermined steering angle with respect to the vehicle position, so that a driver of the vehicle can easily and quickly park the vehicle with accuracy and safety while monitoring the estimate movement locus of the vehicle on a display screen.
In order to attain the object, one aspect of the invention provides a parking conduct device which comprises: a vehicle position calculation unit for calculating a position of a vehicle on a plan view; an estimate locus calculation unit for calculating an estimate movement locus of a vehicle body when the vehicle is moved at a predetermined steering angle with respect to the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit; and a display unit for displaying the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit together with the estimate locus of the vehicle body calculated by the estimate locus calculation unit.
In this construction, the predetermined steering angle is the maximum steering angle of the vehicle, and the display unit displays the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit, by superimposing a contour of the vehicle body onto the estimate movement locus of the vehicle body calculated by the estimate locus calculation unit.
Another aspect of the invention provides a parking conduct method which comprises the steps of: calculating a position of a vehicle on a plan view; calculating an estimate movement locus of a vehicle body when the vehicle is moved at a predetermined steering angle with respect to the vehicle position calculated in the vehicle position calculation step; and displaying the vehicle position calculated in the vehicle position calculation step together with the estimate locus of the vehicle body calculated in the estimate locus calculation step.
In this method, the predetermined steering angle is the maximum steering angle of the vehicle, and the display of the vehicle position calculated in the vehicle position calculation step is performed by superimposing a contour of the vehicle body onto the estimate movement locus of the vehicle body calculated by the estimate locus calculation step.
By this arrangement, even a beginner driver of the vehicle can easily and quickly park the vehicle with accuracy and safety while monitoring the estimate movement locus of the vehicle on a display screen.